Analyzing the causes of project failure: the case of the Apremdo Market Project
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Date
2021-05-18
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Abstract
Infrastructural projects have been established to be a firm basis for national development.
Many investors have sought to participate in the investment of such projects. However, the
funding gaps linking the infrastructural needs and the available resources are quite broad,
especially on developing countries like Ghana. Government and all funding agencies must
therefore seek to promote the proper allocation of scarce resources for improved national
development. The Apremdo market project was initiated two decades ago to serve the best
interest of the people within the then Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly. However,
numerous efforts to relocate the traders to the market has failed. Using the case study
approach, the study focused on identifying the failure factors, the causes of these failure
factors and to recommend best project management practices for future projects with
similar scope. Questionnaires were distributed to a sample size of fifty traders from the
assembly. Sampling techniques adopted were convenience sampling and purposive
sampling. Respondents were made to respond according to their degree of agreement with
the factors. The Municipal Head of Works for the newly developed assembly under which
Apremdo falls was also interviewed. This ensured both qualitative and quantitative
measures are used. From the fifty self-administered questionnaires, forty-six were
responded to and used as the basis for analysing the data. Data was analysed using the
relative importance index on a 5-point Likert scale. It was found out that the main factors
resulting in the failure was the lack of stakeholder engagement, lack of user input, lack of
resources, poor sales and unrealistic expectations. These factors were caused by the lack
of proper planning, poor communication, location of the market, lack of project
management practices and client/customer involvement. The researcher recommended that
stakeholder engagement be made a vital requirement for donors before funds are released
for any infrastructural project and that project management practices be adopted on all
projects. This should be enforced by establishing an effective monitoring and control unit.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Construction Technology and Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award degree of Master of Science in Project Management.
Keywords
Causes of Project failure, Apremdo Market Project,, Project Management